Friday, January 8, 2016

This morning while checking my newsfeed on Facebook, I read this article (http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2016/01/dutch-city-cycle-lanes-overcrowded-at-rush-hour/) a friend living in the Netherlands posted about rush hour cycle lanes being overcrowded. Her opening was "This is my new reality and I love the biking culture." It got me thinking about being back in a driving culture. I remember when we were first moving overseas being nervous about only having one car... about using public transit... and I was pretty excited about it also.

It turned out to be a wonderful adventure. I loved the people watching, the energy of the commute, the way I was able to interact with people from all walks of life. Sure there wasn't life long friendships made or anything, but there was a sharing of energy... a feeling of interconnectedness. There were also negatives, but those that know me know I'm not one to focus on that.

Now we are a 3 car family of 6 living in a driving culture. I can't help but feel like it's super easy to feel disconnected from other humans in a driving culture. We get in our cars and quickly lock our doors. It's easy to get angry, honk, and drive aggressively around the car that just cut you off or is driving too slow. It's easy to forget that it is just another human sitting behind that wheel. We get in our cars drive kids to school or head to work. Spending time with only those who are "like" us. We live in our communities and still are only surrounded with those "like" us who make about the same money as us and value the same lifestyle as us.

That being said, we are still loving the conveniences of having cars again. Still, I yearn for the interconnectedness. I wonder what we can do in this driving culture with all it's perks to remain part of the world around us and aware of the lives that others are living.